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Names seen around Don Mills
General The original Don Mills community arose in a very short period of time. Most of the names used were builders' children's names, supplier names, or based on the name of the builder itself. Many street names likely reflect the flora and fauna of the area: Burdock Lane; Cottonwood Drive; Wren Court; Redwing Place; Foxden Road; Dutch Myrtle Wax; Waxwing Place; Veery Place; Ternhill Crescent. Many people believe that some street names are clones of places in England and Ireland: Tangmere Road; Charnwood Road; Tadcaster Place; Tottenham Road; Bradgate Road; Chelford Road; Ballyronan Road; Southwell Drive; Hurlingham Crescent; Charnwood Road; Torryburn Place; Tockwith Place (a little dead end that disappeared when Charnwood Road was connected to Southwell Drive with the building of Donmac Drive); Industry played a great role in the growth of Don Mills. As such, many street names are based on local company names: Upjohn Road; Barber Greene Drive; Street Names *Although "'''The Bridle Path'''" is in fact the name of a road in the area, the term generally applies to the neighbourhood as a whole. The street's name is frequently misspelled as "The Bridal Path" by those who are unfamiliar with the history of the area. The actual "Bridle Path" name came about as early plans for the neighbourhood included an elaborate system of equestrian bridle paths, as most of the estate owners in the area preceding its development were horse-owners. While the paths have since been paved over, their legacy remains in the Bridle Path's wide streets and in the name of this elite community. * '''Duncan Mills Road''' *The naming of '''Eglinton Avenue''' originates from Eglinton Castle in Scotland, itself named for the Earls of Eglinton. Several early settlers, impressed by the Eglinton Tournament hosted by the 13th Earl, named the hamlet developing at Yonge Street and the wagon trail between the third and fourth concessions after the Earl. The trail soon adopted this name, and was gradually improved over the years near Yonge Street. In 1953, Metropolitan Toronto (Metro) was formed. Seeking to build new connections to the rapidly developing suburbs, Metro widened and interconnected Eglinton to its current form through the decade. *'''Talwood Drive''' and '''Talwood Park''': The name is likely derived from the tall trees that existed, before Dutch Elm disease arrived. There are still some large old oaks in the vicinity. *'''Wingreen Court''' is likely a simple turnaround of Greenwin Properties, the owners of the development. * '''Guytoi Court''': The original planners of Don Mills liked to frequent a nearby Chinese restaurant for lunch, where they would always order a dish called ‘Guy Toi Soup’. They liked it so much, in fact, they named a street after it. *'''Lawrence Avenue''' was named for Jacob Lawrence, a tanner and farmer in the area of Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue.Liz Lundell. The estates of Old Toronto Boston Mills Press, 1997 Originally Lawrence Avenue only ran east of Yonge Street, with the road heading west to Weston being named McDougall AvenueAtlas of the City of Toronto and suburbs, in three volumes, 1910. Third Edition. Volume 1, General Key. East of Victoria Park Avenue the road was also referred to as 1st Concession Road based on the original survey of the old Township of Scarborough. *'''Prince Andrew Place '''is also likely a royal eponym. *Shops at Don Mills: A number of new roads and driveways located in the new development are named after prominent community members of the Don Mills area: **Aggie Hogg Gardens - named for former resident, storekeeper, postmaster and daughter of settler John Hogg **Clock Tower Road - named to identify the location of the Clock Tower at the corner of the Town Square. **'''O'Neill Road''' - named for local settler James O'Neill (arrived 1845) "How Shops at Don Mills streets got their names". National Post. April 30, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2009. **'''Karl Fraser Road''' - Karl Fraser, first CEO of Don Mills Development and assistant to developer E.P. Taylor **'''Leadly Lane''' - named for local settler Allison Leadley (arrived 1850) **'''Pabst Lane''' - named for local settler Rudolph Pabst (arrived 1814) **Marie Labatte Road - named for former North York Councillor for Ward 10 and Metro Councillor for Don Parkway Marie Labatte (1925–2004)[["Naming of Proposed Private Lane at 939 Lawrence Avenue East (Shops at Don Mills)"][[http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/ny/bgrd/backgroundfile-11614.pdf]]]. City of Toronto. March 17, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2011. **'''Sampson Mews''' - named for local settler James Sampson (arrived 1838) **'''Maginn Mews''' - named for merchant, school trustee and politician Charles Maginn (arrived 1841) : The development, which opened in 2009, has nine named thoroughfares. Cadillac Fairview originally wanted to call them Strolling Mills Road (‘‘chosen to encourage leisurely walking and shopping,’’ according to an early Cadillac Fairview explanation); Heartwood Road (‘‘the street connotes a caring neighbourhood’’); Azure Mews (‘‘relating to the open blue sky’’); Moonlight Lane (‘‘relating to moonlight nights’’); as well as Nestling Walk, Mercado Mews, Clock Tower Road, Reunion Walk and Twilight Lane. *'''Upjohn Road''' named after the former site of the Upjohn Company of Canada. *'''Victoria Park Avenue''' is a royal eponym of Queen Victoria. *'''York Mills Road''' is an east-west route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada named for the community of York Mills or Hoggs Hollow. "York" refers to York Township and "Mills" refers to the gristmill and sawmills in the Don River valley during 1804–1926."[York Mills][http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/neighbourhoods/north-york/york-mills/history]". Maple Tree. 1999. Retrieved 2013-10-18. It is the former 10th concession road. Other significant names * The many mills scattered along the Don in the 19th century gave rise to the name "'''Don Mills'''". * David Alexander Dunlap, the wealthy Vice-President and Treasurer of Hollinger Mines Consolidated, bought 600 acres along the Don Valley. Dunlap chose the name "'''Donalda'''" for his farm to honour his wife, not because of the "Don River" or "Don Mills Road" as often presumed. Commercially it was known as "Don Alda Farms Ltd., R.R.#1, Todmorden, Ontario". * David Duncan House References